Maintenance Fees

I cannot believe the increase in maintenance fees since we purchased out club - we are being forced to sell.

In addition, I called RCI to bank my week in December of 2008 and they told me we needed to contact the Manhattan Club - I did so in January 2009 and they told me I lost my week - can you imagine? After paying the maintenance fees! Said it was in the contact - how many pages is that contract. In this economy it's a share the way we have been scammed.

You are not alone with your complaints, believe me. We bought in 2005 and our maintenance fees doubled since then to $1,700. When it was half that, they allowed us to pay it over twelve months on our credit card, now they want it all up front after they DOUBLED it.

We, too, are forced to sell just to get out from under. As someone recently posted on our dedicated Manhattan Club group (in yahoo, check it out), "I could spend a week in LONDON and still not pay the $1700 that the Manhattan Club wants just for maintenance fees." If people were truly smart and resourceful, they would never buy direct - they would check out redweek or tug to find the deals I wish we had known about earlier. Sorry for your troubles, but I can totally relate.

In Yahoo? A group of us should get together and attend a board meeting to express our feelings about the deception from the beginning to now.

The group associated with the Yahoo listerv is indeed planning to meet in early August at the Manhattan Club to present a united front. I doubt I will personally be able to attend but I will send you the link to register for that listserv so you can be in on what they are talking about doing.

In 2008, they offered me to convert my days to points for $50 and I have to use it by Dec 2009. I asked them about point convertion this year and I was told they dont offer it every year. It was just a promotion they offered last year. I am having a hard time getting a reservation for more than 2 days. I have the Columbus day and one day in Nov. They said that is all they have. They can put me on the waiting list for the days I want but there are no guarantees. I am not even sure if I can even go.

This is a common problem amongst owners at the Manhattan Club. They have done what many airlines do, "overbook", and now there are way too many owners and not enough units, even though we have all paid to be assured of getting one week a year (or every other year, depending on what you bought into).

You really should get on the yahoo listserv we have for Manhattan Club owners to hear some of the mutual horror stories and also the remedies some of us are trying to effect. The e-mail address to get a message on our listserv is: manhattanclubowners@yahoogroups.com

One member is taking the lead on looking into a class action suit (because, folks, this is downright fraud) so you may want to check it out. We are VERY interested in getting as many MC owners together as we can because there is strength in numbers. Please do join us so we can do something about this. It's gotten so bad that even those of us who have been unable to pay our maintenance fees (myself included) have not and apparently will not be "foreclosed" on because they owners know they don't have space available to make any more resales. Of course, they are happy to lure in new, unsuspecting buyers who are stupid enough to pay $30,000 when they could get it on redweek.com for about $5,000! Good luck and let me know how you make out.

Thanks I will check up on this

The former Jim Jewekes of Salt Lake City Timeshare sales and Owners Resort & Exchange located in the same office are con artists. They sale the Unit THEN dare say you didn't pay your current fee. Their accountant lists the fees as PAID for the next year then do not give you credit or they bill extra and do not credit if you make payments. They do not put your SALE in the proper name and charge you THEN charge extra fees. SCAM ARTISTas to HE L ASAP

does anyone has experience with carefree journeys? I was told they will transfer title in exchange for membership in their vacation club. Thanks! Lou

I too am being forced to sell. I bought in 2005 and am in the same boat as you. Maintenance fees are too high (1,700) and the monthly 'mortgage' just to cover the principal and interest is a financial drain. I will look into your listserv. My questions are more interested on how to walk away from it all.

I am interested in the class action suit. I am in NJ and fed up with the abuse at the Manhattan Club. Please let me know what I can do to help. Thanks! Lou

lourdesg3 wrote:

I am interested in the class action suit. I am in NJ and fed up with the abuse at the Manhattan Club. Please let me know what I can do to help. Thanks! Lou

What abuse has most irritated you? We stayed there would like to buy, but are concerned.

This is a reply to ng:

First of all, you have to be aware that, if you buy directly through the Manhattan Club, you are paying highly inflated prices compared to if you bought through a current owner (yes, I am looking to sell, but this is not the only reason I am telling you this). The Club sells units for upwards of $30,000 whereas on Red Week and through individual owners who are members, they go for peanuts because we are all over our heads with the outrageous maintenance fees. Do you really want to spend big bucks on a timeshare and then, every single year, have to shell out upwards of $2,100 in maintenance fees? Maybe it is worth it to some who really think NYC is "it" but we need to move on.

I have a studio unit with TMC that we paid $27,000 for in 2005. I am now shopping it around trying to get what I still owe for it which is around $5000. If you check out what TMC wants for this same unit, you will see the disparity I am talking about.

The other downside of being an owner at TMC is that you have to be willing to book your week at least 9 months in advance and there is NO cancelling or rescheduling this once you do. Owners are having trouble getting weeks they are entitled to whereas renters are having NO trouble doing this on Expedia and other websites.

Good luck to you, and get in touch if you have any interest in buying from me or another disgruntled owner who just wants out!

Just like it is stated elsewhere in this forum. Exhorbitant maintenance fees, inability to book unless you are willing to do so close to a year in advance, plus nonresponsive management. I, for instance, have left numerous messages for the reservation manager regarding a week they failed to book with RCI and have yet to get a call back. So, if you still want to buy check online and you will get a unit rather cheap becasue a lot of people are selling due to the high maintenance fees and inability to book their units. I have a studio for sale if you are interested. Cheers!

Thank you everyone for your honesty. This is a great forum to help newbies to timesharing. Thanks again.

We too are trying to get out of the Manhatten Club. Can't book when we want and maintenance fees are over 2ooo for a 1 bdrm! We will be interested in going to that meeting in August because we only live in PA. I think it is in our best interest if we go en masse and demand that something be done. I never knew when we bought in 1996 that there is no way out. They want to make sure you own property that they can put a lien on in case you don't pay your maintenance. This smacks of fraud.....

I tried but cannot connect on the yahoogroup. Is it no longer in existance? amcordaro@comcast.net

I tried to get online at yahoo and the page is no longer there. We are just as disgusted with the MC. Please let me know where else to contact others who are in the same boat.....amcordaro@comcast.net

To anyone interested in being part of the Manhattan Club list serv on yahoo, send e-mail to the address below in order to subscribe. It can get pretty active, especially when people are talking about the outrageous maintenance fees, the worthlessness of your timeshare purchase because of these fees and the difficulty getting reservations.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/manhattanclubowners/join

For those who want to post to our list, you can do so by sending e-mail to the address below. Welcome to any new members as we need ALL we can get!

manhattanclubowners@yahoogroups.com

I tried e-mailing you but it was returned. I am contemplating suing the Manhattan Club. Is anyone interested in joining me so that we can file a class action?